Day 247

The remaining ceiling "T's" were welded in today. In the photo above, one can see an angle bar going across below the ceiling. This is for a huge suspended cupboard over the berth that would otherwise be wasted space.

We decided it should be metal to simplify framing of this, make it strong, and to be a possible net support for sleeping in rough weather.

It also solves the complexity of terminating the ceiling panel nicely. The rest of the framing will be in wood. Small tabs were added on the angled portion of the transom.

The floor to berth frames were put in and recede down to 1 1/4" to give some more floor space there.

The photo to the right shows how close the berth frame came in to the transom. There is barely 1/2" to play with. The berth will double as a giant hatch to acces the huge storage area beneath it. The mattress will be framed in oak and put on high side hinges aft. The oak will rise above the mattress hieght and will be over laped with another Oak trim running along the transom curve.

Hope it looks good! There's not much else that can be done. For now, we are planning to use an air mattress as we both are totally comfortable on them.( We use them in the house! )

It really solves the problem of mildew and moisture problems. It can be easily deflated and taken outside to "wash" in the rain. It drys quickly, and inflates with a small pump. I have noticed that over 2-3 weeks, they loose some rigidity by leaking air. A couple of puffs by mouth brings it right back up again! Awsome!

They sure have come a long way with those since camping in the 70's! Coleman makes the best we figure.

It's too bad we can't use this for the forward berth because of it's odd shape. Why don't they make seat cushions/backs? They would sell in the marine community I'm sure!

Blog:

I can't remember the last time we just relaxed in the sun! It was a real treat and made us realize that we'll be doing this a lot in the (hopefully) near future!

Yesterday we took a day off for flu recovery (and to get a tan!) and decided to check out some of our electronics. The new radar monitors case was damaged and pulled so we got it as a parts unit. It turns out, apart from the case, it's much better than the one we got with the antenna. The case from the old will be used for this one!

The solar panel is 1 of 4 flex panels we purchased, and in direct sunlight they really push the power. On a (nearly dead) battery it kept up with the radar all afternoon no prob.

The issue of how to feed the wires from the 4 panels in through the pilothouse roof is still an issue.

Day 247:
7 hours - Put in last ceiling framing, back transom T's, floor to berth edge frames, cupboard frame.